Sacrilege! Using a correct image prism diagonal for astronomy

Pretty much everywhere you will see it stated that correct image Amici prism diagonals are not suitable for astronomy. I beg to differ. In fact, I am using a $25 Astromania-branded image-erecting Amici prism diagonal that I'm loving for views of the Moon, bright planets, and double stars in my 102mm Sky-Watcher Maksutov-Cassegrain. The diagonal appears to be made by Guan Sheng Optics (GSO) of Taiwan, although it is not stated, as is usually the case. You can find it rebranded by a variety of sellers.

What is that you say?!! You will go to Astonomer Hell, where everyone is an astrologer and it's cloudy every night! And did we mention the wildfires?

Humbug. Unless you are a very experienced observer and have excellent transparency and seeing most every night, you're probably not going to notice any slight light or contrast loss, if any exists. Unless you like observing really bright stars, the notorious "prism line" will not be a factor. In fact, I've only seen it in this diagonal when viewing the brightest stars like Vega (0.0 magnitude), and even then, it just looks like a diffraction spike caused by the secondary spider on a Newtonian reflector. Oh, the horror!

Frankly, where I live and observe, atmospheric seeing and light pollution are far more important factors in determining what I can see than the equipment I use.

Why do I like the correct image diagonal? Well, for one thing, seeing things mirror reversed really bothers me. I've spent my whole time as an amateur viewing things in reflectors, which merely rotates the view 180 degrees. A mirror diagonal will keep things "right side up," for whatever that's worth, but mirror reverses everything. Objects look totally wrong to me that way. I easily get lost on the Moon. I would rather lose a bit of light to be able to see things correctly displayed. This is my own use case. Yours may be different. But don't assume others have your interests, budget, and particular situation in mind when they make recommendations.

Wait, what?...Huh?!

Ahh. That's better.

Images adapted from the Virtual Moon Atlas.

I have a right angle correct image (RACI) finderscope on the Mak, and the view in the Amici prism diagonal matches that in the finder, only with a narrower field of view and more stars visible. That makes it so much easier to find things. The Moon and Saturn look normal. Yes, I could mirror reverse my Sky Safari view or my Virtual Moon Atlas view, but that doesn't make it right. Good astronomical images will reverse the mirror reversal, so I can directly compare my observations with images.

As for spending $100 or more on a high quality Amici prism diagonal, feel free. I recommend you try the inexpensive option first, and if you don't like it or think it's not good enough, return it or just toss it in the swap bin. I think you might be surprised.